When sewers back up and basements flood, homeowners can face catastrophic costs. Often, the communities most prone to these problems are those where residents can least afford necessary repairs or home improvements.

Green stormwater improvements alone can’t solve the problem. But with ‘gray’ infrastructure like new concrete sewers and pipes costly and time-consuming to build, green solutions are an essential element in addressing urban flooding.

Center for Neighborhood Technology began developing RainReady over a decade ago to promote and support green stormwater improvements for homes and communities. Learn more about the RainReady approach here.

Today, RainReady offers help from the regional to the homeowner level:

• RainReady Calumet Corridor, Cook County’s $6 million green stormwater infrastructure investment in 6 Chicago suburbs (where we’re piloting ways to center community voices in prioritizing approaches to mitigation)
• Oak Park, Illinois’ project to help homeowners pay for qualified work by vetted contractors on proven green flood control improvements like overhead sewer lines, rain barrels, landscaping to redirect water flow and other methods
• Providing fact sheets with solutions homeowners anywhere can access and use to create personal flooding mitigation plans

RainReady policies and practices help property owners and communities reduce flood risk, increase climate resilience, and create healthy buildings and green neighborhoods. Our approaches are tailored to the specific needs of each building and community.